24.08.2019, Moscow.
Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the Defense and the Foreign Ministry at a briefing session with the Security Council of Russian Federation to assess the threat to Russia’s security and make proposals for a symmetrical response to US actions aimed at growing its missile capabilities, the Kremlin’s website reports on August 23.
A briefing session with the permanent members of the Security Council was held in the Kremlin on August 23. It took only 16 days between the US official withdrawal from the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty and the successful testing of a ground-based missile that hit a target 500 km away, noted the president at the meeting.
The MK-41 missile launcher used during these tests was previously deployed to Poland and Romania as part of the missile defense systems. It violates the INF Treaty because it has the ability to launch banned missiles, noted Vladimir Putin. The president also posed a rhetorical question: what type of missile system will actually be deployed in Eastern European countries — missile defense systems or missile strike systems?
The sole purpose of the withdrawal from the INF Treaty and the staged US propaganda campaign was to cover up the research and development that took place in violation of the INF Treaty in order to develop banned missile strike systems, emphasized the president.
On August 2, 2019, the US officially withdrew from the 1987 INF Treaty.
Source: Rossa Primavera News Agency
